Heuman, Lore

This portion of the Museum of Tolerance site is dedicated to the children of the Holocaust. Each of the children featured are accompanied with a biography and photograph.

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Lore Heuman(Born March 31, 1932 - Hellenthal, Germany)

Lore, the younger daughter of Johanna (Falkenstein) and Carl Heuman, grew up in Bielefeld, Germany. Her father was a successful businessman, while her mother stayed home with the children. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Lore was still a baby. The Germans quickly introduced antisemitic legislation, making life difficult for most Jews in Germany. Many left the country, but others felt that the situation was only temporary. The Jews of Germany felt a strong connection with Germany and with German culture, and could not imagine that the Nazis would manage to stay in power for any length of time. Many did not want to leave elderly relatives who could not be easily uprooted.

In 1935, Germany enacted the "Nuremberg Laws." These laws took away the citizenship of all German Jews. Jews were soon barred from most professions and from public education. They were forced to sell their businesses and were segregated from the non-Jewish population. Many became impoverished. In November 1938, country-wide acts of terror and destruction were perpetrated against Germany's Jews. Most now realized that their lives were in danger, but those who wished to leave the country found that there were very few countries that would let them in. In 1941, Jews were forbidden to emigrate. Lore and her family were now trapped.

Early in 1942, ten year-old Lore and her family were arrested and sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto in Czechoslovakia. Lore and her sister Margot lived in a children's home. They saw their parents every day after work. The camp was overcrowded and unsanitary, and the food was minimal. Many died of hunger and disease. There were also frequent deportations of people who were sent to the death camps in "the East."

In May 1943, Lore and her family were sent to Auschwitz. Lore was not selected for immediate death when she arrived at the camp. She was sent to the women's barracks, where she endured overwhelming hardship. Twelve year-old Lore was murdered a few months later.